Fruit of The Spirit
The Gifts of the Spirit are not the same as the Fruit of the Spirit.
This is extremely important to understand before you study the fruit of the spirit. There is ONE Holy Spirit. The Spirit that fell on the disciples after Jesus ascended to heaven is THE spirit that resides in every Christian today. There is not a different spirit, nor a different spirit in each one of us. But, here is how the Spirit uses people differently through gifts:
“7 The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all. 8 To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. 9 To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing. 10 To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages. 11 All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 NIRV
The scripture is very clear - the spirit is giving out specific gifts to people. Not all of the same gifts are given out to everyone. but, WHY? Because we NEED each other to be the body of Christ. Our gifts are meant to work together to bless those who join the body. One spirit, but many gifts, operating in different people. God has designed us, our personalities, our looks, our testimony, to use for his glory. often times the gifts he gives us are in line with the strengths he has given us! So then, if the rest of your church body is in need of your gift how are you stewarding that?
It’s so important we get outside of ourselves and realize our gifts are not just to make us look good or put us on a platform put the gifts of the Holy Spirit or so that we can build up the body of Christ and lift Jesus his name above everything! When we are operating in our gifts, we need the fruit of the spirit which build our character so that when we stand in our gifting, we can stand with character and produce this fruit of the Holy Spirit no matter what season were in!
The Bible specifically tells us as people who follow Jesus to be ready in and out of season, which means we have to be planted by the living water, so that, in even the driest seasons of our life, we can still hold the character of Christ. At the end of the day, the truth is our life is, but a vapor, the legacy that we leave is in how we have treated people and drawn them into the presence of Jesus, the fruit of the spirit is meant to be so consistent in our lives and continually growing bigger because with God, it is a never ending well. Jesus is the living water the knowledge of Christ is what saved us to know we are different from those around us.
If you want to learn more about the fruit of the spirit and producing it, our new Bible study, the fruit of the spirit of study on Galatians five is available now! We cover all of this, and more in the hopes that you would grow, be pruned, and be able to stand with spiritual character no matter what life throws at you!
